


Not What We Thought

by sleepismyfriend



Category: Doctor Who (1963), The Sarah Jane Adventures
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-05
Updated: 2010-11-05
Packaged: 2017-10-13 01:48:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/131462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepismyfriend/pseuds/sleepismyfriend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In return for saving the TARDIS, the Doctor and Sarah resign themselves to keeping their timelines straight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not What We Thought

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spydurwebb](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=spydurwebb).



Sarah stood in her attic, arms crossed in front of Mr. Smith, waiting for him to finish his weekly diagnostic. Ever since the whole mess with the Slitheen, Sarah, with Alan's help had completely changed Mr. Smith's software protocols. Needless to say, she had had little to no problems with him since then.

In fact, Alan had tweaked the newest software last week via videophone. He gave his usual smile and basic instructions on how to proceed with installation, and Sarah had complied. It made her life so much easier to know that she didn't have to solely worry about his upkeep anymore.

"Sarah Jane, I have finished my diagnostic as requested. My network is secured thanks to Alan's changes to my BIOS system."

"Excellent, Mr. Smith." Sarah had turned away from the supercomputer with full intentions of working at her desk only to hear Mr. Smith speak again.

"Sarah Jane, I am detecting a high level of artron energy materializing on the corner of Bannerman Road. I believe it could be the TARDIS."

"Which corner?" Now, Sarah was curious. It wasn't like the Doctor not to materialize in her attic if he wanted to see her, even if she wasn't completely used to that new face of his yet.

"The one across from number twenty," Mr. Smith replied. "I could attempt to communicate if you'd like?"

"That won't be necessary." A deep timber of a voice entered the attic, and Sarah whipped around, feeling the blood drain from her face. It was him, her Doctor, the one that had left her in Aberdeen with his wild curls and long colourful scarf trailing behind him.

He quickly moved from the attic door to the landing's stairs, stepping down to Sarah's level. "My TARDIS does not need to communicate. I'm right here."

He looked over to Sarah, flashing a small smile before looking back at Mr. Smith. "Hello, Sarah Jane, my what an extraordinarily brilliant computer you have. Are those isometric circuits?"

He pointed at Mr. Smith as Sarah struggled to find her voice. Why was he here? She hadn't seen this him in a long time, and didn't understand the timey-wimeyness of it all. She watched him take one step forward as Mr. Smith didn't hesitate to answer.

"My systems are based on positronic isometric circuitry," Mr. Smith replied rather too cheerfully to Sarah's liking as the Doctor moved to inspect Mr. Smith's panels. She felt so small near this him, the taller eccentric madman from before. "Although, I am Xylok in origin."

"You built a supercomputer around a Xylok crystalline entity? Impressive." The Doctor shoved his hands into his pockets as he took a step back towards Sarah. "Although I do believe those panels say 'copyright of the TARDIS'. I'd recognize them anywhere."

"UNIT kindly donated those." Sarah's defence went up as she found her voice. She had had enough of a hard time constructing his main frame, and was quite proud of her work.

"Since when does UNIT kindly donate anything?" The Doctor noticed the slight flush of her cheeks and knew that he had rattled her slightly. "Maybe I should give the Brigadier a good harassing. S'not fair if you get new toys."

"Mr. Smith is not a toy—" Sarah focused on him, staring into those blue eyes and willing herself not to get lost in them. It wasn't the right time for such things.

"I agree, Sarah Jane." Mr. Smith interrupted her, but she continued speaking without interruption on her behalf.

"—He is a highly sophisticated being that could rival the TARDIS."

"Oh, I highly doubt that." The Doctor continued to be amused by Sarah's annoyance at him. "I just finished working on the TARDIS. Her circuits are near perfect."

"Ha! I'll believe it when I see it." Sarah clenched her fists around her arms, trying not to dig her fingers in hard enough to bruise. "You probably lost three sets of Zeus plugs, and the Ganymede something or other trying to fix her."

"Four sets of Zeus plugs, actually, but who's counting?" He smiled, adding to her annoyance for she never wanted to stay mad at him when he smiled at her like that. "Technically, you did borrow those panels from me, so if Mr. Smith can rival the TARDIS it is only because he was once part of the TARDIS."

"Oh, now you're just being ridiculous."

"Sarah Jane—" Mr. Smith listened to their argument while trying at the same time to get their attention as their argument continued.

"Ridiculous? Why, I'm merely pointing out facts, Sarah. It's not up to me as to whether or not you accept them."

"Sarah Jane—Doctor—" Mr. Smith tried again to get their attention.

"Accept them? Can't you accept that something could be as universally brilliant here on Earth without you as it is in a universe with you? We're not all stupid apes, you know." Sarah dropped her hands to her hips.

"You'd be surprised. Not that I'm calling you a stupid ape. Why, in my time—" The Doctor was cut off by a high piercing shrill of a sound emanating from Mr. Smith that filled the room.

"Mr. Smith, what is that?" Sarah's hands held tight over her ears as the noise continued for several seconds and Mr. Smith's panels lit up and blinked in various patterns signalling emergency.

"I tried to get your attention, Sarah Jane. Yours as well, Doctor. I believe someone is trying to steal the Doctor's TARDIS. I detect a high level of energy surrounding it as well as dematerialization protocols."

"That's impossible." The Doctor kept his ears covered like Sarah.

"Mr. Smith, shut that bloody siren off." As soon as Sarah's sharp voice said it, the siren sound stopped. "Thank you."

The Doctor immediately flew out of the attic with his scarf trailing behind him. Sarah knew he would be back shortly, and so she waited and approached Mr. Smith instead.

"Who is taking the TARDIS?" Sarah demanded to know, and waited for Mr. Smith to compile the evidence.

"The source of control appears to be UNIT in origin, though I am unable to accurately detect where exactly it is coming from. It is piggybacking off of several satellites orbiting the Earth. I believe you are familiar with their headquarters in Mount Snowdon."

"Oh no." Sarah was quickly piecing the pieces together. It was the most recent experience with the Doctor that she had had in Mount Snowdon, where she had met Jo and her grandson Santiago. "Is it possible, Mr. Smith, that the Shansheeth tried to steal any one of the TARDIS? Since there are more than one Doctor in time and space, maybe they had more than one opportunity?"

"Calculating the odds, but your theory is most accurate, Sarah Jane. However, the Shansheeth would need enormous amounts of power to perform such movements through the space-time continuum."

"If I remember right, Snowdon is the highest peak in Wales—" Sarah cut herself off as she thought of the possibilities. She didn't know why her Doctor had appeared, but she knew she needed to protect the timelines, otherwise, this TARDIS would be the one to get to the UNIT base and it would unravel everything in her timeline.

"Mr. Smith, I take it you know where my TARDIS has gone?" The Doctor chose at that moment to re-enter the attic, obviously out of breath and looking rather irate as he waited for the supercomputer to give him an answer.

"Affirmative. The TARDIS is currently sitting on Roald Dahl Plass in Cardiff outside known Torchwood headquarters."

"Torchwood? Why on Earth would those less than adequate humans take my TARDIS?" The Doctor didn't understand. "Other than the obvious reasons."

"It's not your TARDIS Torchwood wants, or even Torchwood, really. There's a giant spatial-temporal rift in Cardiff—" Sarah piped in.

"Well, of course there is. Where do you think I recharge the TARDIS batteries from time to time?" The Doctor wasn't amused. "Mr. Smith, do we know who took her? Someone would of had to have incredible amounts of energy to pull off a stunt like this. Wouldn't put it past my other selves, really."

"Sarah Jane has a workable theory, Doctor," Mr. Smith replied.

"Never mind my theories. We've got to get to Cardiff before the Shansheeth find a way to finish the job." Sarah started looking around. Where were her car keys?

"The Shansheeth—The funeral fleet? Why on Earth would those vultures want my TARDIS, Sarah?" Now, the Doctor was curious as to Sarah's theory.

"Don't have time to explain." Sarah snatched her car keys from the middle of the sofa. "We can make it there in no time."

"Sarah, you have a transmat board." The Doctor pointed to the rather oddly shaped flat looking hard plastic board propped against the bookshelf. He moved towards the dark grey device and picked it up to inspect it.

"Yes, but it's broken." Sarah sighed, and then moved to approach him. His eyes went from her back to the board as to listen to her and inspect the board at the same time. "I could never get it calibrated to the right frequency before it shorted out."

"Of course not. See this five-point hole?" He pointed to the bottom of the board, where a five-point hole was in the centre. "You need an Archimedes wrench in order to calibrate it. They're rather hard to come by in this part of space. I'd use mine, but it's rather indisposed in the TARDIS at the moment."

"You might be in luck." Sarah moved across the attic to her desk and opened the top drawer. Shuffling through several tools, she found the one she was looking for. "Universal wrench from Portibelis Five's tech market. Got it from a Groske. It's got more than a billion wrenches in it. I'm sure you can find the right one."

"Indeed." The Doctor smiled, his fingers brushing hers as she passed him the wrench and he tweaked it. "I'll need those cables over there as well."

"Which ones?" Sarah had a dozen sets of different colour cables sitting in piles on the far wall. She was glad she had taken the time last week to sort them.

"The yellow ones." He instructed, using the wrench and then sticking his ear to the board as he pressed several buttons on the side. He wasn't quite sure he could actually get the board to work not knowing the inside circuitry. "We'll need an initial power source. Mr. Smith, I trust you can handle that?"

"Absolutely, Doctor."

"Good, because I've calibrated it to recycle its energy once it fires. So, we'll have a way back just in case." The Doctor gripped the wrench hard and turned it with one hand.

"Sarah Jane, you will have to connect the terminals at the end of the cables to the bottom of my right panel." Mr. Smith instructed.

"My right or your right, Mr. Smith?" Sarah held the terminals in both of her hands, eyeing the panels in front of her.

"My right. There should be two holes on the bottom of that panel," Mr. Smith said as Sarah bent down and felt for the holes. Sure enough, there were two one-inch holes on the bottom of his panels that she quickly plugged the terminals into.

"A slight turn to the left, and we're in business." The Doctor held the wrench in one hand and the board in the other as Sarah approached with the free end of the yellow cables. "Thank you."

He took the cables and plugged them in before dropping the board to the floor. It was barely big enough for him, to say nothing about Sarah Jane. "Mr. Smith, I don't suppose you could program the coordinates from your end?"

"I will attempt to do so, Doctor, but I cannot promise the way back."

"If we're successful, we won't need it. If we do, well, I think I'll manage." The Doctor stepped on the board carefully. He then held out a hand to Sarah. "I'll assume you're going with me?"

"Well, of course." Sarah took his hand and stepped on the board with him. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her even closer as she placed her head against his heartbeats. For one split second, she forgot about the missing TARDIS and focused on the fact that he was really with her.

They dematerialized not a minute later.

\--

  


It was unusually sunny in Cardiff, Sarah thought, as she stepped off the board and looked around. She didn't want to linger with him holding her, knowing that the board was rather small. The experience was certainly not like Nerva station. At least, Harry, the Doctor, and her had their own transmat pads to step on there.

The Doctor watched her for a moment before picking up the board. It wouldn't do to leave it lay where anyone could pick it up. He owed that much to Sarah, he thought to himself.

"Doctor—" Sarah squinted against the sun as she waved her arm back behind her at him. "Look—"

Sure enough, there was the TARDIS, only several ordinary looking people were surrounding the blue police box as it looked like they were lifting it onto the back of a lorry.

"Perception filters, Sarah," the Doctor said, moving towards them without another thought. Sarah sighed for a moment before following behind him. He never paused before doing anything.

The humans were obviously rattled by the sudden presence as he waltzed up to them and commended their efforts.

"But if you don't mind, I'd like my TARDIS back, right now. You see, I see through those perception filters of yours. I'm the Doctor, it's what I do." He grinned. "So, drop my TARDIS, Shansheeth, or I shall have to follow you to wherever it is that you're taking her. Believe me, that never goes well."

Sarah caught up to them, staying behind the Doctor and keeping her mouth shut. There was no telling what they knew and didn't know since the event was in her past and the Doctor's future. She only knew that they needed to get the TARDIS and get out of there.

"We only wanted to return your TARDIS to you, Doctor." One of them spoke, in a low off-key voice that nearly sounded like Kermit the Frog, Sarah thought. "We are not stealers."

The last comment nearly made Sarah chuckle for she knew that they were lying. The humans then backed away from the TARDIS. The Doctor turned to look at Sarah, giving her a small reassuring smile as the humans then lifted the TARDIS onto the back of the lorry and scattered in all directions.

"C'mon, Sarah." The Doctor grabbed her hand, and together they ran after the lorry. The Doctor jumped first, hoisting himself up onto the back as he threw the transmat board towards the front of the lorry's bed. Sarah kept on running. "Come on, Sarah, you can do this. Grab my hand."

Sarah was trying to keep up, mainly focusing on his outstretched hand and feeling the burn of her legs. Lucky for them, the lorry was going rather slow down the Plass. "Not. As. Young. As. I. Used. To. Be."

"And you're really going to let that stop you? Come on, I've seen you run." She was almost within reach. She could feel the tips of her fingers touching his, and the lorry was slowing for only a second to let the person in front of them pass. Sarah took that opportunity, and the Doctor lifted her as the lorry resumed speed.

She plopped straight into his lap, and he wrapped his arms around her as she struggled to breathe. He then rubbed up and down her arms trying to get her to relax. "There, there, try and breathe—It's alright, Sarah. As soon as we find out why they want my TARDIS, we'll be safe. Just like old times."

"It can't be your TARDIS they get—" She hiccupped, then covered her mouth as she leaned into him. "It can't be you."

"Oh? And why not?" He leaned his head against hers.

"Because I've all ready seen which one they get, and it can't be yours." She found herself relaxing in accordance with his comfort techniques and trying to resist anything more. "The Shansheeth want to use your TARDIS to stop deaths all over time from happening."

"Well, that's noble of them, but stupid in theory. Everything dies, Sarah Jane. It's how the universe operates. Everything has its time, and everything ends." The Doctor's words surprised her, for they were the very same words she had said to him at Deffry Vale. She didn't know if it was coincidence, or something more.

Sarah pulled back, inspecting each detail of his face with her hand as though she was seeing it for the first time again. It made her heart flutter and stomach churn with butterflies as she traced the length of his nose and choked back a laugh in favour of something more serious.

"I've missed you," she said, holding his cheek. "I mean, I've seen you since then, of course. But never this you."  


"I'd never just leave you." He wanted to say more, knowing the events of the Matrix. However, he could feel the lorry slowing down again and knew that this was their chance to get into the TARDIS. "Sarah, we have to move."

"Right." Sarah moved away from him as he stood before she did, and then offered a hand to help him up. He searched his pocket for the TARDIS key, only to find everything else in the world besides it. "Doctor?"

"Wait—Hold on—" He still struggled to find his key as Sarah pulled hers from her neck and quietly opened the door. "How did you?"

"Never mind right now. Get us out of here." She pushed into the TARDIS past him, and he looked around once before getting inside.

Sarah's eyes teared at the sight of the white console room around her as her fists clenched tightly. She had imagined this sight only a million times to either wake up or snap out of her daydream. This wasn't one of those cruel moments, but a real one that would require more than remembering.

The Doctor moved past her towards the console, pushing several switches. "We're lucky, you know. Lucky they put a perception filter around the entire lorry. Now, if we can get dematerialized."

"Doctor—" Sarah found her voice again as she approached the console, almost afraid to touch it. "The transmat board."

They had already dematerialized by the time she had said the words, and the Doctor stopped to look at her. "Oh, Sarah, I'm sorry. I'll get you a new one, if you like? A better one that doesn't require so many calibrations? Portibelis Five doesn't just sell wrenches. We could go find you a new one. Quick pop in and out of the Vortex?"

His smile was her undoing, she decided. Over forty years and the effect was the same. She stepped up next to him and nodded her head, and his smile widened. "But, no Daleks, or Exxilon, or anything else. Straight there, and straight home."

"Absolutely." He pulled a lever, and Sarah felt the rumble at her feet. It was in this moment that she had almost wished that she had travelled with the spiky-haired Doctor and Rose.

Nothing in the world would ever truly compare to this.

\--

  
They walked the busy market, albeit at a slower speed than Sarah normally associated with the Doctor. Aliens of all shapes and sizes moved past them, but he didn't noticed. Instead, he held her hand tightly in his and was more than happy to point out several different types of devices to her that she had never seen.

Once they had picked up a suitable transmat board that the Doctor was sure was far superior to the one they had left in the lorry, he scuttled her past several booths to where the food stalls were, and picked out several suitable things that he knew she would like.

"So, we're under a glass dome?" Sarah held a utensil in her hand that resembled the human equivalent of chopsticks as she pointed in the air to the space above them. They were sitting at an equivalent of a picnic table with various aliens eating around them at their own tables. Sarah's brand new transmat board was leaning up against the bench.

"Something like that." He leaned on the table, smiling as he stole a small bite out of her carton. She allowed it, but not without a smirk. "Made out of some of the most durable transparent aluminium in the universe."

"Transparent aluminium. Really? Sounds like something out of Star Trek." She took another bite.

The Doctor chuckled. "Well, it's not exactly aluminium, Sarah, but humans are unlikely to ever discover the natural components of this hull." The Doctor looked up to the stars above him. It didn't rival in comparison to Sarah, a fact that more than filled both of his hearts. He was more than happy to see her rather than the stars.

"Are you sure I'm not eating bugs or something? You've been very elusive about the details of this takeout." Sarah chuckled, and the Doctor reached over and wiped a smudge from her cheek.

"After being on Nerva station with Harry, would I make you eat bugs, Sarah? I distinctly remember the faces you were making." The Doctor raised his eyebrow, wiping his thumb on his trousers and Sarah put down the carton to laugh.

"No, I suppose not." They stared at one another for several moments, and the silent was as nice as the actual talking.

"Thank you for your help today. In rescuing my TARDIS." The Doctor fiddled with the ends of his scarf before staring at her with his head tilted. "Do I want to know the details?"

Sarah cleared her throat. "Let's just say that all over time, the Shansheeth are trying to steal your TARDIS. They'll only be successful once."

"That explains quite a bit." He scratched his head. "They've tried to take the TARDIS before when I was a younger me. Never succeeded of course. I'll assume you're privy to which future me they're successful with?"

"Yes." She sighed, wishing she could give him all the details. "But don't worry, I'll be there when you need me to be. Just like you'll be there to save me at the end. With some help, of course."

"Definitely like old times, then." He tried to smile, knowing that whatever happened, he wouldn't be this him when it happened. He knew that much. Sarah couldn't help but think of the memory weave, and all the memories that were pulled from her subconscious.

"Have you left me yet?" She found her voice cracking as it lowered, and she pushed her food to the side. "Sorry, you probably didn't expect me to ask."

"Wouldn't be you if you didn't, and not that long ago." He sighed. "I did have to go to Gallifrey, Sarah. Had to deal with the Master."

"Not again."

"Yes—And, now that mess is over with, I fully intend to go back for you. I set the TARDIS for Croydon, but I missed a bit, that's all."

Sarah looked at him, and it was a look that he knew she had perfected with time and practice. "I'm afraid you can't go back for me now, Doctor. It's not the way the timelines are supposed to play out."

"I'm a Time Lord, Sarah. I think I know how timelines work."

"Then you know that you'd be unravelling this moment in your timeline and creating a paradox." She could see him retreating into himself, and it nearly broke her heart. She didn't want things to be like this. "Just as well, I suppose. I prevent myself from travelling with you again to save the universe."

"Why? What's to say that I can't convince an earlier me not to try and visit you? Or that dandy that used to be me? What if I talked to him?"

"Doctor—" Sarah rubbed her forehead. "Be more practical. You said so yourself. Everything has its time."

She could see that he was struggling with the idea of not going back for her. She reached for him, down his arm to his hand as she shifted her position on the bench. "It doesn't mean you can't visit every now and then. You know where to find me, and are always welcome. You just can't go back for me."

The Doctor's thumb moved back and forth across Sarah's hand. "The Time Lords won again, didn't they?"

"This time, yes, but that won't always be the case. One day, you'll see that. They won't control the universe forever." She put one leg over the bench and then the other, leaning against the table as she watched him brood. "But, in the meantime, you're destined to find someone. Someone spectacular. I'm only sorry I can't really tell you who to look for. Not with that face, anyway."

"Oh, you've done more than enough, Sarah. No one would expect you to change the laws of time." He looked up, trying to curb his brooding when he knew Sarah was trying to smile. He knew Sarah was telling him the truth because he had spent time in the Matrix on Gallifrey. "I do hate to be alone."

He straightened up, and entwined his fingers in hers as they now sat next to one another. Sarah gave his hand a squeeze.

"You won't be alone for long. Not if you don't choose to be." Sarah tried to be optimistic when all she really wanted to do was lean into him and tell him that she'd stay. "Promise me, you won't choose to be."

"I promise. I'll try not to."

"Good. Now, I think you owe me a trip home, don't you think? A safe one with my new toy?" Sarah wagged her eyebrows, and the Doctor laughed.

"This is not a toy, Sarah. This is a highly sophisticated device designed to aid you in saving your planet from alien beings like me. Are you sure you don't want that tractor beam we saw? It wouldn't take up much space at all, and could prove very useful in your line of work." He picked up the board, shoving it under his arm and waited for her to stand, holding her hand once she was upright.

"Oh, of course, if you're buying. Think we could get them to put it in one of those transcendental bags? I could use one of those in the house." Sarah walked along side him, holding his hand.

"Why not, if you're going to go that route, I'm sure there's plenty more we can pack in there for you. How about some new computer circuits for that computer of yours? Or a new chemistry set for your son? They have those somewhere near the robotics booths." He continued talking without stopping. "Yes, Sarah, I know you have a son. I'm sure he'd enjoy the challenge. I'll even make a note. Have my future self install the chips in Mr. Smith and supervise your son to make sure he doesn't blow up anything. Would you like that?"

"Sounds good to me." Sarah took that opportunity to lean into him. The Doctor shifted his arm around her and sighed as she put one arm across his waist. He was happy to spend time with his best friend. Always.


End file.
